The Aftermath
by Arisprite
Summary: A series of oneshots detailing the characters immediate actions and reactions after the last battle. Mostly friendship or canon pairings, rated T. This chapter Zuko and Katara


Title: The Aftermath-Katara and Zuko (this chapter)

Author: Arisprite

Warnings: None really, except Zuko's lightning burn is talked about. Friendship.

A/N: This fandom is very fun :) This will be a series of short stories about the various characters reeling in the aftermath of the events of the series finale. Will be update sporadically, but I want to leave it open for me to write more. Therefore, this isn't necessarily a oneshot, but it's close to one. :P

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Katara felt her heart clench in pity as she looked at the broken figure of Zuko's sister. This was the girl who had chased their group all the way to Ba Sing Se? This was the terrifying monster who'd attacked them over and over, _ killing _Aang, coming so much closer to destroying them than Zuko ever had. Now she was ….nothing. There was no control, just raw insanity. She twisted and flailed, sobs and fire bursts filling the air.

She and Zuko stood far enough away to avoid getting touched by her pathetic attacks, but Katara could see that the sight of his younger sister crying caused Zuko pain as if he were getting burned. His face was hard, to keep from twisting in anguish. She was sure that much of his pain was because of the large star shaped burn from Azula's lightning strike...

(she still felt the heat of the burn and the charred fabric crumbling away under her fingers)

... but some too was from the total fall of the sister he'd partly tried to protect and partly admired.

Zuko swayed then, and Katara had to duck to tighten her hold under his arm. He really shouldn't be on his feet, but when he'd struggled to his feet moments before, she'd had no choice but to help him stand. Now he was pale as she'd ever seen him, gasping.

"Get the guards," He rasped, "We need to get her locked up somewhere safe."

Katara nodded, then looked around. She'd have expected there to be a crowd of spectators; they had interrupted Azula's coronation, after all, not to mention the intense battle between the two siblings directly after. But there was no one around, except those Fire Sages who had been about to crown Azula Fire Lord, timidly poking their heads around the corner of a nearly demolished building.

She and Zuko turned, with him nearly falling but for Katara's almost steady arms. She shouted out at the Sages.

"Hey, you over there!" All but one ducked back behind the building at the loud noise Spirits, they were worse than the fox rabbets she and Sokka had hunted back at the South Pole. The remaining one glanced between her and the listing Fire Prince fearfully. He'd seen what both of them had done moments earlier. Katara wished her hands were free so she could freeze him in place, simply because he looked like he would bolt at any moment.

"Where are the guards?" Zuko asked, working much too hard to sound steady and pain free.

"Gone, my Prince." He stepped out further, looking back towards the now limp Azula. She'd stopped wailing, and was simply sniffling now. Zuko frowned.

"What do you mean?"

The older sage swallowed, making his thin chicken neck bobble. "The Princess banished them."

"And the everyone else?" Zuko asked, meaning the servants, Katara presumed. The sage shook his head.

"They are all gone, sent away. Only we remain." By this time, the other sages had seemed to decide that they weren't going to be attacked, and they slowly came out. The sage continued.

"Already, we could see the signs of the Princess' instability."

Zuko took a step forward by himself, anger seeming to carry him.

"You could tell Azula was going mad, and you were still going to crown her Fire lord?" He asked sharply.

The sage unfolded his hands from where they had previously been folded into his sleeves, revealing massive burns and blisters across both palms. Katara gasped as it became clear why the sages had been so skittish.

"After our first attempt, we dared not try to stop her, my Prince."

Katara stepped forward, pulling the last of her water from the her pouch.

"I have healing ability," She said, holding out her glove of water. The fire sages nodded, and all five of them held out burned hands. She healed them quickly, frowning in empathy at the nasty blisters.

Zuko meanwhile, was putting a tentative hand against his stomach, not quite touching the burn that still showed under the rip in his tunic. Katara caught a glimpse of this out of the corner of her eye, and slapped his hand away.

"Don't touch it!" She snapped in exasperation. "You're worse than Sokka was when he got those fish hooks caught in his finger." Zuko gave her a weak smirk.

"How did he get multiple fish hooks in his finger?" He asked.

"Katara turned back to the last sages hands, still shaking her head. "He tried to get the first one out with the other one."

Zuko snorted, and immediately regretted it, and his torso spasmed in pain. He gave a kind of squeaky grunt that he would have been mortified if Mai heard, and swayed in place. Katara had to drop the water from her hands in order to catch him before he fell entirely.

The fire sages looked on in worry, but made no move to help her as she lowered Zuko to the ground until he was sitting cross legged and hunched over, with his elbows braced against his knees. Katara couldn't suppress a surge of anger.

"This is your Prince sitting on the ground, in pain!" She addressed the sages, turning towards them. "Go and find help. Azula can't have banished _everyone_! We need healers, and soldiers. _Quickly!" _She barked when they hesitated, sending them scurrying off.

Zuko gave her an amused look from his place on the ground, and she gave a little answering smile, though she was already moving to take his weight and help him lay down, pillowing his head in her lap. It was obvious being upright was hurting him.

"I guess I was a little harsh on them, wasn't I?" Katara said, a bit abashed. Zuko chuckled, and then coughed.

"Coulda given me a run for my money." He murmured.

Katara laughed weakly. Now that the fight was over, and the adrenalin rush was petering out, she felt weak and a bit shaky. They had both almost died, Zuko had saved her _life_, nearly at the cost of his own. Her thoughts shifted to the rest of their family; of Aang facing down the Fire Lord by himself, hopefully, somewhere. The comet's red light was fading, and Katara prayed to every spirit she'd ever heard of that Aang was alright. Sokka, her brother, was off with Toph and Suki, facing down the airship fleet. She prayed they were okay as well.

Her eyes filled with tears of fear. This wasn't over. It wouldn't be until they were all back together again. Some of her tears fell on Zuko's tense face, and he glanced up at her in concern.

HIs hand reached up, and she grasped it, grateful for the human contact.

"It will be alright." He whispered. "Everything will be alright."

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A/N: Okay now everyone. Do you want more of this type of thing. I've already started a Sokka, Suki and Toph thing, but anything else? (Though, just so you know, I literally _can't_ write effective romance, so don't ask) Please let me know what you think!


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